The New Avenger

Small Kindnesses

Peter's POV:

      Percy has the worst luck in the world. Or maybe Ms. Norman is just a cruel human being. Probably their both true. Lily's a nightmare and everyone knows it. Except the teachers it seems. Unlike Flash she doesn't shove people into the locker, her kind of torture is worse. Its little snide comments. Either you're on her good side or she goes after you. Percy doesn't seem like the kind of guy who gets on the cool kids good side. From what I can see of the conversation Percy is doing a spectacular job of upsetting her. Which is rather impressive in and of itself. Although at the moment it would be of more worth for him to just agree with her.

      "Hey you wanna sit at my lunch table?" Lily simpers. In response Percy mutters something under his breath that I can't hear. Apparently neither can Lily. "What'd you say?"

     "No." Percy says, louder this time.

     "Aww, come on Perc, why not?" I almost gag at her flirtatious voice. Percy doesn't respond.

     "Did Peter invite you to sit with him?" She gives me a disgusted look. "Cause nobody sits with him. He's a looser."

     Even though I didn't even invite him to sit with me I find myself hurt at her gossip. Normally I just ignore her talk but today they hit me right where it hurts. With those words I can feel Percy being torn away from me. And I can't afford to lose any friends. Its with a shock that I realize  I consider Percy a friend. But it shouldn't be. Percy seems like the kind of guy who makes friends fast. I wait for Percy to accept her invitation but her doesn't.

     "Thanks for your input. For the record, if I want your advice in future I will submit a written form. Now if you'll excuse me I need to speak to the teacher to find out what I'm supposed to be doing instead of listening to you gossiping." Percy growls and stalks off. I sigh of relief escapes my mouth, freed into the world. People don't normally defend me. They want Spider-Man to defend them but they don't think about the guy behind the mask. And lets face it, everyone needs saving sometimes. 

     Class continues, unaware of the small, yet monumental kindness showed to me. Soon I hear that wonderful sound, the sound of the bell, signaling my blessed freedom from Ms. Normans torturous class.  Before I leave though, I wait for a moment. If Percy is willing to turn down a ticket straight to the popular group for me the least I can do is wait a moment for him. 

"So how'd you enjoy your first class?" I smirk at his horrified face. "If its any comfort she's the worst."

"Thank gods. I don't think I could stand another period of that." Percy shudders.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"It was."

"How so?"

"Oh, you know..." He trailed off. I waited. Normally if you wait for someone to finish their sentence they will.  But he stays silent for a moment. So do I. We're locked in a battle of wills, and I'm not going to back down. Not from this, its to important. I want to understand how Percy works, what drives him. Why does he want to keep his condition secret from his mom? What even is his condition? What really happened to him? Because his story of what happened, somehow it just doesn't fit. Getting to know Percy, though its just been a few days, I don't know. He just doesn't strike me as someone who would throw himself into danger just because he was bored. It doesn't seem like something he'd do... We're still locked in physiological battle. 

"So where to next?" Percy grins brightly, breaking the contest but not letting me win either. Changing the subject, very nice. 

"I think you're going to fit in here just fine."

A/N

Its very, very short. I know. But I'm trying to tag team and this area really needs to be from Percy's point of view...